Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O'Connell

8 reviews

kim03's review

5.0

This book wasn't perfect but it was close. Lots of trigger warnings.
I have to agree to what I've seen in other reviews, this could've used another round of edits, pov randomly switched from one paragraph to the next, but knowing this when starting the book prepared me and I got used to it real quick. The relationship and the feelings this book made me feel are responsible for the rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide

mdev's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

gemin1reader's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad

4.0

Extremely angst-y but beautiful Western romance! I enjoyed this a lot, a very tender love story and the way it’s written is very evocative of the time period. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit and Murder

elfsteel's review

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

i feel like this book was so hyped up on r/RomanceBooks that my expectations going in were super high, which ultimately left me disappointed.

so much of the book was told through the perspectives of other characters that it was difficult for me to really emotionally connect with the MCs, especially since they seemed to have basically one “personality” trait each. for the FMC that was being rebellious/fiery and for the MMC that was being quiet/dangerous/the town outcast. 

it probably doesn’t help that almost all of the main action happens (or feels like it happened) off-screen, only for the characters to indirectly tell the reader what happened after the fact. a lot of the big conflicts were built up and then the perspective abruptly shifted to another character which really ruined the anticipation for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Abortion

mrs_faith_owens's review

dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was a fantastic read. I couldn’t read it fast enough. While it was sadder and more violent than most romance novels I read, it will be one I think about, and reread, for a long time to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Suicide, and Abortion

Minor: Animal cruelty and Miscarriage

Not only is abortion discussed, it is in the context of a woman being forced to have an abortion.

The most harrowing part of the story involves the FMC being kidnapped as her father does not approve of her being married to the MMC. She is pregnant with his child, and her family plans to take her back to Chicago, have the baby cut out of her, and have her placed in a sanitarium until she “comes to her senses” and agrees not to go back to him. They are aided in this by sketchy doctors and a judge who draws up the paperwork under the table to annul her marriage and have her committed.

louise_lion's review

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Anne was a delight to read. I think it will always and forever be pleasurable to read about a women who has been beaten down so hard by life to become a fearsome, gun wielding heroine.  Cord in all his serious, terse, and witty one liners really stole my heart. I’m not sure how I felt about the representation of a mixed race Native American in this story, so if that’s a sensitive subject for you, avoid this book. There’s definitely overt, aggressive, and nausea inducing racism in this book which is to be expected in a novel depicting life in the 1800s in Colorado. Overall, the love story was incredibly heartwarming and the pacing of this book with its everyday sort of story-telling pushed all the right buttons for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

revirag's review

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is one of my all-time favourites. It's the author's first book and you can feel it: the pacing isn't perfect, the writing can be dragging at times, the villains are comical in their evil-ness and honestly, Cord's family is just.. Impossible and impossibly annoying. But! Anne and Cord are lovable, strong characters, slowly building a working relationship from a horrible incident, making mistakes and learning along the way. They love each other and their feelings come across clearly from the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

sharanya's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

2nd (3rd?) Read, 2024

AASDFJKLBQEGPXIZY!!!! Knocked off half a star from my original review bc I can't believe Judith just waltzes around carefree without even a word of apology after everything, but otherwise this ABSOLUTELY held up to my memories!! Cord & Anne were incredible characters — a perfect mixture of funny, lively, fierce, and tender. Cord remains one of my tops book baes of all time, that man is just. EVERYTHING. For the most part, the discussions of prejudice, misogyny, and racism were done well. Imperfect (see: Judith), but well. And yes, the ending went on longer than necessary maybe, but, much like with LOTR: The Kings Return (extended edition), how mad about it was I, really? 

All in all, I do still rec this book for historical romance fans — though still with the caveat that while I thought the themes were handled well, I'm not the main expert in this case.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Abortion

Minor: Abortion

there is description of a threat of forced abortion, but it is never carried out.